


Farewell

by The_Arkadian



Category: Romeo And Juliet - Shakespeare, Romeo et Juliette - Presgurvic
Genre: Angst, F/M, Grief/Mourning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-08
Updated: 2014-12-08
Packaged: 2018-02-28 16:09:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2738681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Arkadian/pseuds/The_Arkadian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For an ask meme: the prompt from janeeyreofmanderly: Juliet & Tybalt, “You came back.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Farewell

**Author's Note:**

  * For [janeeyerofmanderley](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=janeeyerofmanderley).



Juliet watched her husband of only a few hours leave, her eyes fearful as they followed him from the room. She raced to her balcony as she pulled on her house robe, and she hung over the stone balustrade and watched with racing heart as the nurse let him out of a side door and he made his way swiftly towards the side gate. He paused to turn and glance up, his eyes seeking hers for a moment as he kissed his hand to her. She did likewise, blowing a kiss to him; and then he was gone and her heart with him.

He would be on the road to Mantua before the first light of dawn touched her face, and she had no idea when she would see him again.

The waves of grief that had been held at bay only by the comforting presence of her love now washed over her once more. How cruel was fate, that within the same day she should be a happily-wedded bride and then mourning the death of her beloved cousin? How cruel was God that He should give with one hand and yet take away with the other? And now she had lost her husband too, though only to banishment; and yet she mourned Romeo almost as if he too had died in that street, his blood mingled with that of Mercutio and Tybalt. She might never see him again, and that was almost more than she could bear.

And she had lost Tybalt, in truth. He had been a constant presence at her side ever since she could remember; a comfort when as a small child she fell and scraped her knee, a gentle playmate who humoured her when she wanted a playmate even though he were older than she. An understanding presence who allowed her to be only herself; to whom she had confided her fears growing up, who understood the troubled heart of a young woman who was not ready for marriage. To think he had died at the hands of the man she had married; it hurt. It hurt terribly, and she could feel the tears stinging her eyes once more. She had wept long and hard for Tybalt when she saw his body lying there, like a broken puppet whose strings had been severed. He had danced with her only a few days before, at the ball; how could he be lying there now, as still as death, no breath stirring his form?

She hadn't believed it; not until they brought him into the house and she had touched his face; and even then, she couldn't take it in. This was not Tybalt – this still thing, this lifeless husk; her cousin was life and fire and strength and this was not him, this broken thing, bloodless with dark glazed eyes that saw nothing – it could not be him!

She turned away from the balustrade as she drew her house robe around her; her eyes were swimming with tears as she stepped back into her room to find a dark figure standing there, tall and silent. But as she blinked the tears away, she knew him. With a low, glad cry she ran towards him, stopping only when he lifted a hand silently.

“You came back! I knew it couldn't be true – I knew...!”

He regarded her sombrely, his face shadowed by the long dark hair that hung around his face.

“It's... it's not true... is it? Tybalt. Please. Say something.”

He seemed to give a silent sigh, regarding her with an infinite sadness.

“Tybalt. You came back.”

He slowly shook his head, and she knew with terrible certainty that it was true.

As the sun slowly rose and filled her room with its soft rosy glow, Tybalt raised his hand in silent farewell as he disappeared from view.

And Juliet wept.


End file.
